Midland Showjumping

L to R : Brian Gormley MVB, Ann Gannon, Brendan Mimnagh, Mary Gannon, Oliver Glancy

Midland Showjumping, who have been very loyal supporters of VIVA over the years have again donated the fees from their annual summer showjumping event to support our overseas livestock projects. At a recent function in Granard, organisers Brian Gormley and Oliver Glancy along with sponsors Ann Gannon and Mary Gannon presented Brendan Mimnagh of VIVA with a cheque for € 2,000.

Mike O'Leary Trust Travel Bursary 2010

This August, Martin Breen, a third year vet student in UCD and this year's winner of the Mile O'Leary Trust Travel Bursary, travelled to Uganda to visit VIVA's animal traction project in the east of the country. His brief was to look at the impact of the project on theindividual farming families.

Martin has just now published his report on the trip which can be viewed here or in the viewer below. According to Martin, the most signifcant impacts of the project has been a reduction in the labour needed to cultivate the land, an increase in land tilled and increased yields from crops like cassava and maize. The extra income generated by the surpluses prduced is going to pay for education expenses or being re-invested on the farms.

VIVA would like to thank again the O'Leary family for their support for this valuable initiative.


Uganda 2010 report - Martin Breen

A Ugandan family prospers

We recently received this report from Dan Bazira (Heifer Uganda) on a visit he made to one of the families involved in the VIVA-funded project in Kumi District which involves providing oxen and ploughs to the Koelei Amora Ican farmers group:

Traveling to Tilling Village in Kadok Zone, Kobwin Sub County, Kumi District in Eastern Uganda, one may think that the narrow paths are a clear indication that no people live in this area. It is a surprise to find that there are such people: the middle aged couple of Hellen Adek, 43, and Charles Opolot, 53, who have been married for 26 years and have 10 children (6 boys and 4 girls), all in school.

A smiling lady dressed casually welcomed her guests with a statement: " Each time I hear Heifer friends are visiting us, I am always delighted, along with my family members. Who ever knew that we would host visitors from within the district, across Uganda and those from outside this country? Heifer has made us who we are today " .

The story of this creative family began in 2006, when as a family they decided to join a community based farmers' group within the area. The group had come together to carry out communal digging rotationally with the aim of addressing the food insufficiency that families were facing. Hellen said, " This was actually more labor intensive than we thought, for we were still using our hand hoes to open up land maximally to a tune of one acre per family." The group, Koile Amora Ican Project, approached Heifer International Uganda, through their well-focused leadership, for any support to address their plight.

Through a partnership with VIVA Ireland, funding was secured to support this community with an Animal Traction Project. " Little did we know that families like one of Hellen and Charles Opolot would turn out to be a creative family with what seemed to be a meager support," said Dr. Joshua Zimbe, Regional Extension Services Supervisor.

A change of the family's history of misery, food insufficiency and a lack of education for the children of Opolot came to reality when they started being trained by the project extensionist. " With Heifer-tailored training, you start off learning before any live gift is given," said Charles Opolot. In 2008, the family, along with three other families, received a complete set of bulls and ox-ploughs to help them open up a larger acreage of land for agriculture.

Today, Opolot's family has not only looked to the gifts they received, they have also diversified to other livestock species like sheep, goats and poultry. Each family member fully participates in the complete management of the affairs of this project. Last season, the family harvested over a lump sum of 10 tons of maize, cassava, millet, groundnuts and sorghum from approximately seven acres of land, which were opened up using the oxen given. Incomes are now assured within the family, children are going to better schools and nutrition has greatly improved, according to Hellen Adek.

" To ensure that we have enough food for the family throughout the year, we have set up five local granaries to store our produce around our homestead " , Charles Opolot said. To the community this is a creativity that was not common within the area and now some of the families have adopted this technique of post-harvest handling.
" Heifer International and their partners, VIVA Ireland, have done us great in terms of addressing our genuine need; we are really appreciative of this support " , concluded Charles Opolot.

Supporters run, jump and cycle for VIVA

Some VIVA Wheelers take a break on the Bantry 100


Aine Collins with her medals!

This summer, VIVA supporters have raised almost € 23,000 in various fundraisers. First up was Aine Collins, a vet student in UCD,who raised over € 700 running in four races earlier in the summer

Midland Showjumping have been very supportive of VIVA in the past and this year was no exception. They donated € 2000 from the proceeds of their summer showjumping event to VIVA

The annual VIVA Golf Classic was held in Glasson on August 6th. 40 teams battled it out for the top prize on this fantastic course raising over € 5,000 for VIVA's overseas projects. Thanks again to Tony McManus for his contribution to the success of this event.

The VIVA Wheelers annual 100km cycle challenge had a hard act to follow after the success of the inaugral event in the Burren last year. However, their luck held with the " Bantry 100 " cyclists basking in sunshine as they whizzed around the awesome scenery of the Sheep's Head and Mizen peninsulas. This latest cycle will raise almost € 15,000 to add to the € 150,000 already raised by the Wheelers since 2005

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Silage-making training in Uganda

With the silage-making season upon us here in Ireland, we thought we'd look at how they do it in Uganda where the farmers on VIVA's animal traction project make silage to feed their oxen in the dry season. The grass is chopped using machetes, mixed with molasses and then sealed in sausage-like plastic bags. Hay bales are also made by stuffing the dried grasses into timber boxes to compress them before they are tied.




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VIVA's Paravets one year on

In March 2009 the first batch of VIVA-trained paravets (trained under a joint programme between VIVA and our partner Heifer Tanzania)graduated in Arusha in Tanzania. One year on we wanted to see how those paravets are doing in their new career. Read Rogate Lukumayi's story here


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VIVA Wheelers heading to Bantry and New Zealand!

The VIVA Wheelers, that band of enthusiastic cyclists that have raised almost € 150,000 for VIVA's projects have just announced two new upcoming fundraising cycles.

Their annual one-day cycle heads to Bantry on Saturday, September 11th this year. The route covering 100km around the Sheep's Head and Mizen peninsulas takes in some of the most spectacular scenery in west Cork.For the committed cyclist, there's a longer loop, which takes in Mizen Head, bringing the distance up to approx. 140km.

Are you hoping to go to the World Cup in New Zealand in 2011? Want to do something useful while you're there? Well, VIVA are planning a five day cycle challenge on the South Island between the Ireland v Italy match and the first round qualifier. The itinerary and costs are being finalised at present and should be available soon.

To register your interest in any of the above or for more information contact Mike Burke on mike@viva.ie or at 086 - 2568357

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2009 Mike O'Leary Trust Travel Bursary Report

Last summer, UCD veterinary student Carmel Molloy, travelled to Uganda (as a recipient of the Mike O'Leary Trust Travel Bursary, to spend a month on VIVA's animal traction project in eastern Uganda. Her brief was to carry out a survey on animal health control strategies on behalf of our partner there, Heifer Uganda. The report provides an interesting overview of disease incidence in this area and outlines the many difficulties in the promotion and provision of disease control strategies such as vaccination and acaricidal use.

The full report can be read here.

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Kosovo AI project

(Brendan O'Connor (R) presents an AI equipment kit to Mike Burke of VIVA)

Brendan O'Connor of Munster AI recently presented VIVA with an AI kit box for its project in Kosovo. In October of last year, Brendan travelled to Kosovo to provide refresher training to some local vets there who provide an AI service to Kosovar farmers involved in VIVA's project (you can read more here). The kit box, which Brendan designed himself, provides convenient, hygienic storage for all the inseminator's equipment and will be used by our partner, Heifer Kosovo, as a demonstration model.

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"Herriot of Helmand"

One of the cornerstones of VIVA's mission is the provision of basic animal healthcare to small-holder farmers in the Developing World. An interesting illustration of the importance of this work is seen in the impact a British Army vet is having in Afghanistan. Dubbed the "Herriot of Helmand", Capt Miles Malone is an officer in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps looking after military dogs in Helmand Province. Once a month he operates a pioneering veterinary clinic where Afghan farmers can bring their livestock for a free check-up and a dose of preventative healthcare.

In this region goats, sheep, cows and donkeys are prized and valuable possessions, so much so that the womenfolk make colourful beaded necklaces to adorn the necks of livestock. According to Capt. Malone, "animal livestock forms the lifeblood of these local communities and by improving the health of the herd, we can in turn have a positive impact on the health, wealth and general well-being of the population". In addition, he points out that by improving animal health, the animal’s capacity to produce meat and milk is improved. Human health also improves as animal diseases that can be transmitted to humans e.g brucellosis, are eradicated.
In this region although livestock are prized possessions, there is, according to capt Malones's colleague, Sgt. Major Reeve, a widespread ignorance about basic animal husbandry. "Farmers here have absolutely no idea about animal husbandry. There is near total ignorance about causes and spread of disease, breeding cycles and how milk is produced. If a goat stops milking, it is said to be Allah's will rather than the fact that it has not bred for 18 months and therefore has no anatomical reason to produce milk."
As such, the natural health of herds is poor, with cattle usually underweight and riddled with worms, mites and other parasites. Capt Malone said the priority is firstly to de-worm and de-louse. By eradicating parasites, the animals are able to absorb more nutrients, and therefore become stronger and more resistant to disease. Once the animals have achieved a baseline of health, he then vaccinates, because the vaccinations are less effective on sick animals.

The full article can be read here and a video of the clinic viewed below



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